


Four Times Olivia Lets Natalia Take Control

by gilligankane



Category: Guiding Light
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-07-23
Updated: 2009-07-23
Packaged: 2017-11-21 00:23:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,073
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/591354
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gilligankane/pseuds/gilligankane
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In a doorway, at the wedding, in a meeting, during a talk, Natalia takes over.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Four Times Olivia Lets Natalia Take Control

**_i. the doorway_ **

Without Emma as their buffer, things get awkward and dinner isn’t all smooth sailing, regardless of  _banana pancakes_  or the resulting laughter.

Because when they get to Olivia’s room, when it comes time to say goodbye, Natalia hesitates.

Olivia can see it in her eyes: Natalia isn’t sure what they should do, because they’ve said goodbye before, but that was  _before_  the  _iloveyou_ ’s and before the  _ican’tmarryhim_ ’s.

And now, after those, Olivia can tell that Natalia is unsure of how this next part goes. (Olivia knows, because she’s been in doorways like these before, with people not like Natalia, in situations that  _meant_  far less than they do now.)

So Olivia steps back and waits.

“What, what do we do now?” Natalia asks slowly, wringing her fingers.

But Olivia has stepped back and this is Natalia’s game now. “We say goodnight,” she says, more of a question than a statement.

Natalia nods and smiles a little, the kind of smile that hits Olivia right in the gut and settles there, because she wants to know,  _desperately_ , what’s behind that smile and  _who_  is behind that smile. And she thinks, for a split second as that smile lights up her doorway, that Natalia is going lean forward those few inches and give her every reason to  _not_ goodnight.

Instead, Natalia nods again, reaches for her hand and whispers  _I’ll see you later_  so softly she almost can’t hear the words.

It’s kind of a disappointment.

**_ii. the wedding_ **

She’s spoken her peace; said she wanted; got it off her chest.

It’s up to  _Natalia_  to do something about it now.

At the altar, she stands in her marked place and ignores Doris’s pointed glares and Frank’s looks of  _giddiness_  and Natalia, glancing back at her every other word. At the altar, she waits patiently and keeps quiet: past the  _objections_  and the singing and the poetry. At the altar, she steadies herself to let Natalia go.

Because it’s up to Natalia to do  _something_ now.

Frank speaks; give his vows about how he’s going to love Natalia until the end of time and Olivia stands stock still without breathing, because she’s said her peace and it didn’t really sound like what Frank is saying, but it means the same thing and –  _just like before_  – Natalia doesn’t say a word.

She doesn’t say anything while  _another_  person talks about spending the rest of their life loving Natalia Rivera.

And then its Natalia’s turn to speak – Natalia’s turn to say how much she loves Frank, how she wants to live with Frank forever, till death do they part. Olivia knows she can get through this if she closes her eyes and imagines her name every time Natalia says Frank.

Natalia looks back at her, but she can’t do anything. She put this in Natalia’s hands; gave Natalia the chance, for once, to choose her own fate.

Apparently, Natalia choosing her own fate means Natalia running.

Doris looks at her and she shrugs.

It’s better than Natalia marrying Frank.

**_iii. the meeting_ **

 “Olivia, don’t do this to me,” Natalia pleads. But Olivia gives a grin and shakes her head.

“I’ve thought this through and I want  _you_  to do it.”

It: the biggest deal for the Beacon to date. It: the deal that could make or break the franchising of the Beacon on the East Coast. It: the only thing stopping the Beacon from becoming the largest hotel chain in the Mid West and East Coast.

And all of it rests in the overly-capable hands of Natalia Rivera.

“I’m  _serious_ , Olivia. I can’t do this. I’m going to mess this up and we’re going to lose the franchising and then you’re going to  _hate_  me for the rest of my life and…”

Olivia surges forward and grabs the fabric wrapped around Natalia’s hips, catching the rest of the younger woman’s words and locking them behind her teeth.

She doesn’t pull back until Natalia is panting against the column of her throat; until her knees are shaking and she’s got Natalia pressed up against the door of her office; until Natalia is smiling again and not freaking out about messing up the meeting.

“You’ll do fine sweetheart, okay?” She waits until Natalia nods – a  _strong_  nod before she lets go, swopping back in for one more kiss.

“Go get ‘em slugger,” she whispers, pushing Natalia out the door with a grin, closing it softly behind it.

They’ll have the deal in the bag within ten minute: those reps can’t say no to those dimples.

_**iv. the talk** _

She shifts on the couch again, not able to find a comfortable spot in the most comfortable couch in the world. Natalia isn’t helping, the way she’s fidgeting too.

Emma just stares at them like they’re losing their minds.

“Mom, was there something you want to tell me?” she asks, all eight-year-old naivety seeping out of her words.

Olivia fidgets on the couch again, because the reality that Emma might not accept them –  _them_ , finally, after all this time – weighing down on her chest heavily. Natalia’s hand falls onto her wrist, steadying her with the simple contact while simultaneously making her heart race faster than it ever has before.

Natalia has that affect on her.

“Jellybean,” she starts. “Remember when, uh, do you, uh…”

She turns desperately to Natalia who is sitting patiently by her side.

Natalia leans forward and reaches her free hand out to Emma, tangling it in the little girl’s hair. “Emma, baby, what your mom is trying to say is that things around here are going to be just a little different from now on.”

Emma nods. “Because you didn’t marry Frank.”

“Right,” Natalia smiles.

Olivia settles back into the couch and feels the relief flood her body: Natalia has it under control and Emma is finishing the younger woman’s sentences, telling her two mommies the story of how they fell in love like it’s something she made up, like it’s a fairytale neither Natalia nor Olivia didn’t know.

She doesn’t even realize Emma is gone and it’s just the two of them until she feels cool lips against her temple.

“It went well,” Natalia says reassuringly. “She just wanted to make sure she could keep the ducks.”

Olivia lets out a half-sob and grins at the same time. “I couldn’t have…”

Natalia nods. “I’ve got it under control.”

And she does.

 

  



End file.
